20 April 2009
Scholar Thomas Ricks Discusses American Martyr Howard Baskerville
CO.NX webchat transcript, April 20
Thomas M. Ricks, independent scholar of the social and cultural history of Iran, answered questions in an April 20 CO.NX webchat on Howard Conklin Baskerville.
Following is the transcript:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of International Information Programs
Webchat Transcript
Guest: Dr. Thomas Ricks
Date: April 20, 2009
Time: 11:00 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT)
Webchat Moderator (Marie): Join Dr. Thomas Ricks on Monday, April 20, at 1100 EDT 1500 GMT for an online discussion about Howard Conklin Baskerville's story and American and Iranian ties.
CO.NX Moderator (Mark): Everyone, since we have some audio problems, Dr. Ricks will type answers to you.
Thomas M. Ricks: I learned about Howard Baskerville when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Azerbaijan in 1964 about 45 years ago! I was living with another volunteer in the Kurdish town of Mahabad (SaujBulaq in Kurdish) and took the regional bus to Tabriz (a five hour ride) to meet volunteers, the Presbyterian doctors at the American Hospital in Tabriz, and to stop by to see the American consul of the time.
When I stopped by the Hospital on one such visit from Mahabad, I noticed the American cemetery next to the hospital with the names of all those American missionaries buried there, including Baskerville. I noticed that his grave site was the only one with fresh flowers on it. So, I asked the missionary d…
Question [Heepodamos]: Dr Ricks, can you tell me about your methodology? Your topic is extremely interesting. When I was in Tehran I used to know some Alborz graduates, the older ones especially were always thinking highly of their school!
Answer [Thomas M. Ricks]: About Alborz College, it remains today a very proud public school having been founded by the American Missionaries under the leadership of the famous Dr. Samuel M. Jordan. But by 1940, it was bought by the Iranian government and since then has remained a public school - though an elite public school in the minds of the Alborzis.
The missionaries at the time of Baskerville were of three types: those who proselytized by going to the Iranian villages with their bibles; those who taught in the elementary and secondary schools of the Mission; and those who were active in the medical field working in the 5-6 different hospitals in western, northern, and eastern Iran. There was even a medical college in the West Azerbaijan city of Urumiah (known as Rezayeh during the Shah's time).
As to Heepodamos' question about my methodology, I am a social and cultural historian using written records (diaries, state department records, the official missionary records and letters of the missionaries). Oral history is also part of my methodology, collecting the remembered histories of former missionaries and their offspring (many of whom were born and raised in Iran speaking not only Persian fluently but also Azeri Turkish, Armenian and Assyrian!). Finally, I am documenting the schools themselves by photographing the old buildings in Tehran - for example, where the missionaries lived and worked, including Alborz College and the equally famous Presbyterian girls' school called Iran Bethel (later in 1930 changed to NurBakhsh and like Alborz High School is still being used today as a public girls' school in a beautiful old building on Khiaban-e Filastin in Tehran).
Q [Mehrzad]: Don’t you think United States is scared from Iran?
A [Thomas M. Ricks]: I don't the US government is "scared" of Iran as such; the stockpile of US weapons is enormous and the presence of US military personnel is globally located. I DO think that American people are very worried about Iran and have been frightened by the present Iranian government (not the Iranian people). The "scaring" of the American public is not new in our foreign affairs. However, many Americans as well are delighted by Iranian arts, music and food, as well as by the history of Baskerville and why he died in Tabriz.
The missionaries who were in Iran from 1853 to 1960 totaled perhaps as many as 500. These missionaries are now living in the States and are active still in their communities and parishes. Their love for all things Iranian is legendary as many attend talks that I and my colleagues give on modern Iran with considerable interest and knowledge, coming up to us speaking very good Persian (aka Farsi) to our collective delight. So, our government is not scared of Iran and it app…
Q [Ali]: Dr. Ricks, I have a suggestion. What about calling the day of Martyrdom of Howard “the day of friendship of Americans and Persians”? Could you work on it? I mean could you ask US government about it?
A [Thomas M. Ricks]: That's a very good suggestion about a day of partnership (hambastegi) between Americans and Iranians. The word "shaheed" is used by the Iranians that I have known and is used by those who administer the Constitution House in Tabriz. So, I'll work with the Baskerville family and see if they are interested in doing the very same thing. It may be more productive, by the way, to have the family initiate some action and then marshal the support of the area studies programs in Iranian studies around the country along with a number of Middle East institutions and programs to also support the idea.
Q [Thomas 2]: Is Mr. Baskerville a martyr, a hero, or an "example"? :-)
A [Thomas M. Ricks]: I believe that Baskerville shows us Americans the potentially good role we as a people may pursue with the "other" people of the world. He is an excellent example, in my mind, of our own ideals (he says so himself) of commitment to just and progressive causes in the name of the majority (environmental issues, human and civil rights of women and children, etc.), rather than supporting the myriad of hard liners and global tough guys. Baskerville was motivated as much by his commitment to the Presbyterian mission spirit of public service as he was by his own reading of French and modern US history and the aspirations (and political culture) of his family and the atmosphere in the 1900s when there were so many diverse actions and political positions in the US. By the way, I'm not sure what he made of the Oglala Lakota people in his community as North Platte Nebraska was very ne…
Q [Ali]: There were many indifferent people in Tabriz in that time. When Howard sacrificed his life in the way of liberty and freedom of Persian, they shamed and they joined to freedom fighters. I think we should not consider Howard role as a person, but as a great courage which he injected to Persian with his brave fighting and his death!
A [Thomas M. Ricks]: There is evidence that his death created great interest in the Anjuman's militia and Sattar Khan's fighting for Tabriz. One merchant, on the day after Baskerville's death, came to the Wilson house and gave Reverend Samuel Wilson a nicely woven cloth saying "we know that he died for us" to put on Baskerville’s grave. The missionaries, by the way, were stunned by the outpouring of love and gratitude for Baskerville's courageous action. There are letters in the Presbyterian Historical Society here in Philadelphia that make many comments about Baskerville. In 1929, the American Consul in Tabriz (August Ferrin) collected material for his 7 page report to Department of State in Washington, D.C. The 1959 50th anniversary was entirely organized by Tabrizis much to the surprise of the State Department.
Q [Ali]: Dr. Ricks I am a Persian Historian. According to me, the role of Howard in Tabriz as same as Sattar Khan. Why?
A [Thomas M. Ricks]: You are giving Howard Baskerville a lot of credit. It's interesting that Sattar Khan found himself getting more attention from the foreign delegations by his invitation to Baskerville to join him in his house and in giving Baskerville the rank of "Deputy Commander" of the Tabrizi militia. You may be right in considering Baskerville so highly as we look back on those days in Tabriz. Sattar Khan and other militia gave many speeches at the grave site of Baskerville (the burial taking 3 hours to accomplish), talking about Baskerville's bravery and honesty and his "gift" to the nation of Iran. Sattar Khan himself was considered a hero, as well as Baqir Khan. Actually, it's surprising to me that, in spite of criticisms in putting the bust of Baskerville into the Constitution House, the population in Tabriz approved the action so it stayed in an honorable place like Sattar Khan's.
Comment [Ali]: Dr. Ricks please do your best. Americans are not our enemy and we are not an enemy of Americans. It helps to our partnership and friendship.
Comment [Thomas M. Ricks]: Ali, I agree entirely.
Q: [Thomas]: Where Can I FinD thIS "sTOrY"?
CO.NX Moderator (Sarah): Thomas, you can read more about this story here: http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2009/February/20090225171026ihecuoR0.4956934.html
Q [Thomas]: “The only difference between me and these people is my place of birth, and this is not a big difference," claimed Mr. Baskerville. The convictions of this man make me think of those of Mr. Pierre Lanares. What do you think about this "idealistic" relation?
A [Thomas M. Ricks]: There's no doubt that Baskerville was an idealist. This is not to say that he was impractical or a dreamer or slightly off the mark as it were. Howard Baskerville was very much part of his time, just out of undergraduate school, and would have made an excellent Peace Corps Volunteer (as so many of us were in our 20s when we went into the Iran III peace corps program). Howard had multiple motives, including his conviction that the Iranian Constitutional movement was just and progressive in nature and that the missionary families' lives were beginning to be endangered.
He was also motivated by the actions of his friends, such as Mirza Hasan Sharifzadeh, who was gunned down in front of the French consulate in Tabriz having just left a meeting of negotiators trying to settle a business dispute between some of the city's leading merchants. At the time of Sharifzadeh's death, Sattar Khan had pronounced publicly that the "anjuman (society) has lost its brains," meaning the movement for an independent and democratic/progressive Iran has lost one its "dear ones".
Comment [Thomas 2]: Idealist! Sure he was! But not only. He was like an "idealist universal patriot.”
CO.NX Moderator (Mark): Everyone, Dr. Ricks will be signing off now. However, several of you have asked about continuing this discussion with him. If you have not already done so, please submit your email address and we will forward it to Dr. Ricks.
Comment [Ali]: Thanks.
Comment [Thomas 2]: It's been a great pleasure!!!
Thomas M. Ricks: Well, I have enjoyed the questions about Howard C. Baskerville. He is the subject of my present research which should be completed this fall and resulting in a book. In doing this history work, I have come to realize how many ways we are affected by the world around us, the joys and sufferings people undergo, and the ways people solve problems. Baskerville was very affable young man and may I be so bold as to say an excellent ambassador of many of our American ideals and bravery. He truly enjoyed his life in Tabriz and lived life to its fullest.
CO.NX Moderator (Mark): Thank you Dr. Ricks!
Comment [Thomas 2]: Great! Thank you!
CO.NX Moderator (Mark): Be sure to send us your email if you wish to continue this discussion at a later date. We will pass your information on to Dr. Ricks.
CO.NX Moderator (Mark): Also, write to conx@state.gov for more information on other webchat topics.
CO.NX Moderator (Sarah): The Webchat is now closed. We wish to thank Dr. Thomas Ricks for joining us today. A transcript of today's webchat will be posted to http://co-nx.state.gov and to http://www.america.gov/multimedia/askamerica.html within two business days. Speakers are chosen for their expertise and may not reflect the views of the U.S. Department of State.
(end transcript)
